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IFZA Free Zone Cost and License Guide

Quick answer

IFZA publishes no licence price, no per-visa price and no renewal price. What it does publish is what a commercial licence permits and where the activity catalogue lives. Everything below is sourced to ifza.com and checked 6 August 2026.

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3 min read Krystyna Sokolovska UAE Business Setup Specialist Krystyna Sokolovska
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On this page 4 sections
  1. What IFZA does not publish
  2. What a comparable zone charges, for scale
  3. How the activity choice drives the cost
  4. How many consultants work with IFZA

IFZA does not publish a price list. Not a licence price, not a per-visa price, not a renewal price. Every article ranking for this query states a figure anyway; none of the ones checked cites IFZA for it. This page sets out what IFZA does publish, shows a zone that publishes its prices in full so there is some sense of scale, and leaves the IFZA numbers blank until there is a quotation to cite.

Verified on ifza.com on 6 August 2026.

Fact What IFZA states
What a commercial licence permits “import, export, or conduct local market trade within the UAE”, from commodities such as toys and food through to real estate brokerage
Stated benefits tax exemptions and income repatriation, simplified work-visa acquisition, legal protection, and conducting multiple business activities flexibly
Activity catalogue browsable at activities.ifza.com
Swipe to see the full table

Source: IFZA, commercial licence, checked 6 August 2026.

What IFZA does not publish

Item Status
Licence package prices in AED not published on ifza.com
Cost per visa allocation not published
Renewal cost not published
How many activities fit on one licence not published
Whether commercial and professional activities can share a licence not published
When an office becomes mandatory not published
Total activity count in the catalogue not readable – the catalogue renders in the browser only
Swipe to see the full table

Checked 6 August 2026 across ifza.com and activities.ifza.com. IFZA describes its pricing as transparent and stated upfront, which it may well be on a quotation. It is not stated on the public site.

What a comparable zone charges, for scale

Because IFZA publishes no figures, the only honest way to give a sense of scale is to show a zone that does and label it clearly. These are Meydan Free Zone’s prices, not IFZA’s.

Item Meydan (published) IFZA
Licence, from AED 12,500 (Regular) not published
Fast-track licence AED 15,000, issued in under 60 minutes not published
Activities included up to 3 groups not published
Each extra activity AED 1,000 not published
Visa allocation AED 1,850 not published
Employment visa AED 3,500 not published
Annual renewal not published not published
Swipe to see the full table

Meydan figures: Meydan Free Zone cost breakdown, checked 6 August 2026.

The comparison is one-sided, and that is the finding. A founder choosing between the two can price Meydan to the dirham from the zone’s own website, and cannot price IFZA at all without asking for a quotation.

How the activity choice drives the cost

The choice What it decides
Which activities licence type, and whether one licence covers the business at all
Whether any activity is regulated whether an external approval is needed before the licence issues
Activity wording what a bank sees at account opening, which is where mismatches surface
Swipe to see the full table

The last row is the one founders learn late. A licence whose activity wording does not match what the business actually does is a recurring reason for a corporate account to stall, and no free zone controls that outcome. Compare zones side by side in the IFZA, Meydan and SHAMS comparison, or read what a cheaper zone costs.

How many consultants work with IFZA

From the Emirae directory, measured 6 August 2026.

Measure Count
Active consultants in the directory 69
Declare IFZA as a zone they work with 10
Of those, also handle company formation 9
Handle company formation at all 42
Declare Meydan Free Zone, for comparison 11
Declare DMCC, the most declared zone 17
Swipe to see the full table

A quotation is the only way to price IFZA, so the practical step is to ask more than one of those firms for the same scope. Company formation is the service this sits under.

IFZA is one of five UAE free zones that publish no licence price at all. The census of which zones publish a figure and which do not is in UAE free zone company setup cost.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an IFZA licence cost?

IFZA does not publish package prices on its website. Checked 6 August 2026 on ifza.com and activities.ifza.com. Prices are given on a quotation.

How many business activities does an IFZA licence include?

IFZA does not state a number on the pages checked. It says a licence can cover multiple activities flexibly, without quantifying it.

Can one IFZA licence hold both commercial and professional activities?

Not stated by IFZA on the pages checked, so this page does not claim it either way.

When does IFZA require an office?

Not stated on the pages checked.

What does an IFZA commercial licence allow?

Import, export, or local market trade within the UAE, from commodities such as toys and food through to specialised fields such as real estate brokerage.

What does an extra activity cost at IFZA?

Not published. Meydan Free Zone, by comparison, publishes AED 1,000 per activity beyond its three included groups.

Where is the official IFZA activity list?

At activities.ifza.com. The catalogue renders in the browser only, so the total count cannot be quoted from it.

Want IFZA quotations you can compare line by line? Describe your case and compare offers from consultants.

Krystyna Sokolovska
Written by
Krystyna Sokolovska
UAE Business Setup Specialist

Krystyna Sokolovska is a UAE business setup specialist who helps founders, independent professionals, and growing companies navigate business launch decisions in the Emirates with more clarity and less risk. Her work focuses on the practical side of entry into the UAE market — choosing the right setup path, understanding licensing options, preparing for banking, planning visa steps, and avoiding common mistakes that slow companies down.

Her editorial approach combines market context, operational thinking, and decision support. The goal is not only to explain how things work on paper, but to help readers understand what matters in real business situations, what usually creates friction, and where expert support can save time, money, and unnecessary back and forth.

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